- EURASIAREVIEW.COM - A la une - 11/Jul 23:53

Cuba: Protesters Detail Abuses In Prison, HRW Reports

Protesters detained for participating in the peaceful July 2021 protests in Cuba have been subject to serious abuses in prison, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite a January 2025 deal that led to the release of some of these prisoners, hundreds remain in detention. Former detainees who were released following Vatican-led negotiations in January told Human Rights Watch that they were beaten and held in solitary confinement as punishment. They described unhealthy and unhygienic prison conditions, including woefully inadequate food and water. They said that they remain under constant surveillance and strict conditions, some of which appear to have been imposed informally. Many fear being sent back to prison, and at least three of the people released have been rearrested. “Four years ago, the Cuban government unleashed repression on thousands of Cubans who peacefully took to the streets demanding rights and freedoms,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Today, hundreds remain behind bars in dismal conditions.” Between March and May 2025, Human Rights Watch interviewed 17 former detainees by phone. These included people who were held in six prisons for men – Alto Río de Guanajay, Boniato, Cerámica Roja, Mar Verde, Valle Grande, and Unidad 1580 – and the Guamajal and Matanzas prisons for women. Several said they had been moved to prison camps or lower security facilities during their detention. Independent human rights organizations Cubalex, Justicia 11J, and Prisoners Defenders facilitated contact with some of the interviewees. Due to the risk of retaliation, Human Rights Watch has not disclosed the identities of most of those interviewed. Numerous former detainees described physical abuse by prison guards. They said that guards beat them for shouting anti-government slogans or protesting about prison conditions. Many said they were subjected to stress positions such as “the bicycle” (also known as the “wheelbarrow”), in which prisoners are forced to run, handcuffed, with their arms raised above their heads. Former detainees consistently described overcrowded cells and poor access to food and clean water for both political and ordinary prisoners. “If your family isn’t bringing you food, you die,” one former prisoner said. “The food they gave you was inedible. It had worms in it,” said another. The former detainees described outbreaks of scabies, tuberculosis, dengue fever, and Covid-19, which they said were left untreated. They said prison officials regularly ignored medical concerns, and in many cases, punished detainees for raising concerns about unsanitary conditions or food shortages. Those who protested said they were frequently sent to solitary confinement, or denied visits, calls, or access to packages sent by their family members. In January 2025, Cuban authorities announced the release of 553 prisoners following negotiations between the Cuban government, the Vatican, and the United States. Independent Cuban rights groups, including Cubalex, Justicia 11J, and Prisoners Defenders, estimate that about 200 of those released were political prisoners, and that the rest were ordinary prisoners. On the day that the Cuban government announced the prisoners’ release, the Biden administration removed Cuba from the US list of countries that support terrorism, a designation that restricts US aid and trade. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump put Cuba back on the list. Many of the protesters who were released said they are required to accept state-assigned jobs, report regularly to security agents, and request permission to leave their municipalities. Several also said they are barred from participating in public demonstrations, associating with opposition groups, and posting on social media. At least in some cases, such conditions appear to have been imposed informally and arbitrarily, as they are not included in a written order or court-ordered conditions of release. Members of the intelligence services, known as “state security,” have followed those released on the streets and gone to their homes, former detainees said, to threaten and monitor them, and deliver written or verbal summons to appear in court or at the police station. “Although I was released from prison, I am still a prisoner,” one of them said. “It’s like being a prisoner in the street.” In April, authorities rearrested José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU) opposition movement, and Félix Navarro, founder of the Pedro Luis Boitel Party for Democracy, who had been released in January. In May, the authorities rearrested Donaida Pérez Paseiro, president of the Free Yoruba Association of Cuba, after she campaigned for her husband’s release on social media. Her husband remains imprisoned in connection with the 2021 protests. Cubans continue to endure a severe economic crisis and face acute shortages of food and medicine, an important factor that brought Cubans to the streets in July 2021. A 2024 survey of over 1,100 people by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights found that 7 in 10 Cubans skip a meal every day, and 61 percent struggle to afford basic necessities. People across the country also face daily power outages ranging from 4 to 20 hours. As a result of poverty and political repression, Cubans have left the country in vast numbers. Ten percent of Cuba’s population – over a million people – left the island between 2022 and 2023, according to the head of the country’s national statistics office. Independent reports indicate the total figure may be much higher. Governments in Latin America, Canada, and the European Union should condemn the Cuban government’s arbitrary detention and harassment of protesters, journalists, and activists and raise concerns about human rights abuses and the grave humanitarian situation in the country, Human Rights Watch said. Governments should also increase support for independent human rights groups and journalists in Cuba.